Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music". NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made by Women.
Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced melodic ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
Overture-Cotton Avenue
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
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And the frogs and dogs and night birds then
Started up singing sweet country lullaby
You see that patch of city lights
Somewhere in there's Cotton Avenue
That's where I'm going to take myself tonight
With a spit shine on my dancing shoes
You just have to go there
If you got no place special
Well then, you just go no place special
I guess it's just the summer in the young blood
Ripe and juicy in the young blood
Teasing to go down to
Cotton Avenue
To hear the shiny, shiny music
See all the shiny people dancing to it
Anytime you go to
Cotton Avenue
If you got a place like that to go
You know you got to go there
If you got no place special
Well then, you just go no place special
Hey, mm
You see that summer storm brewing in the southern sky
By the time it hits here, I'll be dancing high and dry
To rhythm and blues on Cotton Avenue
Poor boys'll be hanging around outside in the street
They got all the latest words
They're dancing to the latest beat
While they're hustling and sizing you
On Cotton Avenue
If you got a place like that to go
You just have to go there
If you've got no place special
Well, my dear
You just so no place special
The opening lines of Joni Mitchell's "Overture-Cotton Avenue" paint a striking image of a red sun descending upon a grey sky, and the sounds of nature awakening as a new day draws to a close. Mitchell then turns her attention to the cityscape, singling out one particular street: Cotton Avenue. This is where she intends to go tonight, with her dancing shoes polished and ready. However, she recognizes that not everyone has a place like Cotton Avenue, a special spot where they can let loose and forget their worries. She acknowledges that sometimes life offers no special destination, and one has to make do without one.
On Cotton Avenue, Mitchell finds exactly what she's looking for: shiny music and shiny people dancing to it. She describes the atmosphere as one of youthful vibrancy, where the young and restless come to release their energy and embrace the rhythms and blues. Even the street outside is infused with excitement as boys hustle and size you up, attuned to the latest developments in the music and dance scene.
Line by Line Meaning
A red sun came rolling down a grey sky
The sun set in the evening sky, painting it red and casting a grayish hue on the surroundings.
And the frogs and dogs and night birds then
Started up singing sweet country lullaby
As the night fell, the animals in the countryside started singing a melodious tune, lulling the surroundings into a peaceful state.
You see that patch of city lights
Somewhere in there's Cotton Avenue
That's where I'm going to take myself tonight
With a spit shine on my dancing shoes
Looking in the distance, the singer spots a patch of bright city lights where Cotton Avenue lies, and she decides to head there that very night, making sure her shoes are well-polished for dancing.
If you got a place like that to go
You just have to go there
If you got no place special
Well then, you just go no place special
If you have a special place that you enjoy going to, then you should definitely go there. But if you don't, then you can go anywhere else because nothing else is special for you.
I guess it's just the summer in the young blood
Ripe and juicy in the young blood
Teasing to go down to
Cotton Avenue
To hear the shiny, shiny music
See all the shiny people dancing to it
Anytime you go to
Cotton Avenue
The singer believes the feeling of excitement she's experiencing is due to the youthful energy of summer, thrilling her young blood to head to Cotton Avenue, where she can listen to the enchanting music and watch the shiny, happy people dancing to it anytime she goes there.
You see that summer storm brewing in the southern sky
By the time it hits here, I'll be dancing high and dry
To rhythm and blues on Cotton Avenue
Poor boys'll be hanging around outside in the street
They got all the latest words
They're dancing to the latest beat
While they're hustling and sizing you
On Cotton Avenue
The singer notices a brewing storm in the southern sky but doesn't worry since she'll be high and dry, dancing to the rhythmic blues on Cotton Avenue. She notes how boys will be present outside the dance hall, trying to show off their latest words and dance moves while also sizing people up.
If you got a place like that to go
You just have to go there
If you got no place special
Well, my dear
You just so no place special
The chorus reiterates the importance of having a special place to go to and making sure to visit it whenever possible. However, if you haven't identified such a place yet, then there's no need to worry since you can simply go somewhere else, even if it's not special.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind